On the first San Antonio Spurs possession of Sunday afternoon’s game against the Toronto Raptors, the perennially excellent team pumped the ball into future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan. The Spurs power forward was being guarded by Raptors rookie Jonas Valanciunas, and San Antonio was taking advantage of a perceived mismatch. There is no surprise twist ending here: Duncan took a dribble, spun over his shoulder and hit an easy hook shot.

The situation repeated itself late in the fourth quarter. The game was tied, and Duncan got the ball. He backed down Valanciunas, spun to his left shoulder, paused — so Valanciunas could lose his timing — and put the ball in. It was clinical.

“He is like a Hall of Fame [player], so he’s a really good player,” the delightfully earnest Valanciunas said after the game.

It took a half, but the Toronto Raptors showed that they still might need Andrea Bargnani, if only a little bit.

The Raptors’ starting power forward missed Wednesday’s game in Memphis because of an ankle injury, and the Raptors’ offence eventually fell apart. After a competitive first half, the Raptors scored just 4-for-17 from the floor in the third quarter. The Grizzlies pulled away during that span, eventually winning 103-82.

The Raptors have now lost six games in a row, with a potential respite against Phoenix coming on Friday. After that, the Raptors face a five-game Western Conference road trip, and a potentially gruesome record upon return.

The Raptors were unable to do anything meaningful on offence in the third quarter. Grizzlies guard Tony Allen was masterful, making it practically impossible for DeMar DeRozan to get a good look at the basket. Kyle Lowry has looked a step slow since returning from an ankle injury. He had 12 points, while DeRozan managed just 16.

Linas Kleiza, who started for the first time this year, took a team-high 15 field-goal attempts. That is not a recipe for success. But it was a product of Memphis’s excellent perimeter defence.

The Raptors hung tough early on with the Grizzlies, who entered the evening with the NBA’s best record. They trailed by just a single point at halftime, with a defensive effort that was worlds better than Tuesday evening’s in Houston when the Rockets put up 117 points on 53% shooting, including 13 three-pointers.

Without Bargnani, the Raptors’ frontcourt cast of Ed Davis, who started in Bargnani’s place, Jonas Valanciunas, Amir Johnson and Aaron Gray battled gamely with Memphis’s monstrous frontline of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. The Grizzlies’ low-post beasts shot just 6-for-15 in the opening half.

But the Raptors lost the plot after that.

They might have some reinforcements coming. On Wednesday evening, ESPN’s Marc Stein reported that the Raptors were considering signing swingman Mickael Pietrus to a contract. Raptors president and general manager Bryan Colangelo has been a long-time admirer of Pietrus, nearly acquiring him last season. Pietrus, 30, averaged 6.9 points and 3.1 rebounds for the Celtics in 42 games last year. Pietrus was seen in Toronto on Wednesday.

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